learning guitar

[Guest Mana]

I've just started to learn guitar, and I find that it is not too difficult, but it isn't very easy either. My friend is teaching me, but he's not the best player. I do have some questions though. Where is the best website to learn about guitar? And I'd appreciate all the advice on here I could get. I hope to become great a guitar and join a band in a couple of years. Thank you all very much.

-MysticKnight :smirk:

[Guest Midnight Rush]

Go to your local Baptist church and find out when their contemporary service is. Then sit through the service, experience God's Word and all that, and then watch for the guy who plays guitar for the singing. After the service, find him and talk to him. You'll probably find that he goes to youth group, or that he is the youth pastor. Express your interest in both guitar and youth group, and then go to a few meetings. After them, talk to him about guitar. You'll learn a lot from a good player, I assure you.

[Juu]

[size=1][color=deeppink]Well, most of my friends told me I should teach myself, but I'm taking electric guitar lessons once a week for $30, mainly because those websites just threw me off, lol.

And plus, my instructor told me not to start off looking at a huge book of chords, as it's really confusing, and it was. Erm- for me, at least. Also, there was that whole thing of getting a few positions right. So uh... dunno. I'd just recommend that you find someone who really knows their stuff. :/

Good luck on learning, by the way. I just started myself, and ahh... my left hand fingertips are already getting rough. >.<[/size][/color]

[Drix D'Zanth]

Oh boy, Guitar. I'm not kidding.. playing guitar will get you laid in college, easily. I do admire the guitar player, and considering the only instrument I play is my voice, sometimes envy the guitar player... :\ As for learning it, just keep playing and eventually you'll get the hang of it. The cool thing about guitars is the ability to jam with a few other guys who play. I usually stand and nod my head to the rythmn when the jam sessions start up... *sigh*

[Juu]

[color=deeppink][size=1]Yeah, I'm much more of a vocalist than a guitarist myself, lol. >_>;

But then, *part* of the reason I started taking up guitar is because we've started this band-thing, and they appointed me lead singer. But I didn't want to just sing and not be a part of the instrumentals. Plus, it's about time I learned an instrument. The only other main option I had was violin, but eh- guitar overruled. ~_~;

Also, a good friend of my dad's is the most famous guitar player in Korea- and when you watch a Korean drama, and there's music with guitar playing in the background (made for the drama), it's usually him. And since he'll be dropping by the US soon, he can give me a few pointers and such.

But yeah. I've got a black electric Ibanez SA 160. *huggles it* [/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting... very interesting.

Well I got an acoustic guitar during the summer of '01 and have yet to actually take the time to learn how to play it. I have that kind of tendency when it comes to musical instruments that I go in with the best intentions and then forget to practice for ages. But hey I will take the time to learn it this year or my name isn't Gavin, which means if I don't learn it I'll have to change my name...

I kind of got into guitar because my uncle is one excellent musician out on the island of Canary Island of Lanzarote he was one of the most highly paid musicians on the island. I'm in total agreement with Jordan on this one, if I was to put it in math terms it would go something like this - [b]Guitar = Chicks[/b], and who says math has no outside uses. [/SIZE]

[chobit]

I play the guitar(and ukelele,and keyboard,and vocals).

Never,ever,EVER,do tabs if you want to be a serious guitar player.Always start with the basics.Learn the strings.Learn the notes on the strings.Learn the simplified chords.Learn the power chords.Then learn whatever you haven't learned yet.

Then you will be truly good grasshopper,and ready to knock elbows with the likes of Jimmy Page.

EDIT:Beware!Power chords hurt your fingers!Or maybe I'm just delicate.

[DetectiveMikeRS]

[QUOTE=chobit]I play the guitar(and ukelele,and keyboard,and vocals).

Never,ever,EVER,do tabs if you want to be a serious guitar player.Always start with the basics.Learn the strings.Learn the notes on the strings.Learn the simplified chords.Learn the power chords.Then learn whatever you haven't learned yet.

Then you will be truly good grasshopper,and ready to knock elbows with the likes of Jimmy Page.[/QUOTE]

Yes avoid tabs at all costs. I learned notation before and it's much easier than tabs in my opinion and tabs can get addictive (my guitarist can only read those) and if you want a career in music sight reading is a must. Books for dummies are good but official lessons are the best.

I primarily play bass guitar, keyboard, and vocals. But I'm a guiarist as a hobbyist. (In addition to harmonica, flute, and autoharp)

[foreverinfinity]

Yeah, I just started playing guitar too. during the beginning of the summer I started teaching guitar to myself, but now I'm also in a guitar class at my school. I reccomend the book "You can teach yourself guitar," wich obviously helps you teach yourself guitar. Another good thing to do is start a band with some beginners so you can learn together. There are also some music stores that have group guitar classes, and in those classes, some students join together and form bands.

[Guest RoboFighter]

ive been playing for bout 4 years and one peice of advice is get a pic. don't play with your hands. i did and man i scerwed my hands for like a month learning like that.

[::Ex-Soldier::]

I've been playing for about 2 years and the only advice I can give is tabs are fun and all, but you should learn the basic chords first, such as G, C, D, E, and a few others. F was hard when i first learned it, but it is an essential chord because in the F formation, it can be moved up the fret board to be any chord. Also, don't forget about the minor chords either.

Chords rule.

[Guest Mana]

Alright, I only know tabs, but I do want to learn to play by reading chords and stuff, but I can't read music. Can anyone explain it to me or link me to a good site that teaches how. Thanks a lot. It is fun playing by tabs, but I do want to learn music so that I can read all the songs in music and won't be left in the dark if you know what I mean. I'd appreciate it if you could help me. Remember, I don't really have much money, lol. I can't afford lessons.

[Attimus331]

Okay, everybody keeps saying tabs are bad, well i'm still a beginner in the art of the guitar, and i know some notes but i mostly play from tabs. Somebody please tell me why tabs are so bad, instead of just saying they are bad, and please give me a link to a good site for chords and stuff. Oh, and what's notation?

[Mr. Maul]

[font=Garamond][size=2][color=seagreen]Well, I've been playing guitar for about two years now, and I have never invested money in lessons. I play by tabliture or by actual music. It's not hard to convert tabs into notes, and vice versa. Just take the string your on, example: E, and each fret is a half step, so the 5th fret would be an A. You can use this to figure out chords and such.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Garamond][size=2][color=#2e8b57][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Garamond][size=2][color=#2e8b57]The best thing to do is to hang out with people who play guitar and pick up pointers from them and just watch them play. That's how I got started. A lot of my friends play guitar so I thought, "Why not me?" [/color][/size][/font]

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]My first piece of advice would be to try and find someone that can give you lessons, whether they be private or a beginners group. If not, then I would definitely advise you to go to a book or music store and buy a beginners guide to guitar theory and practice the lessons inside diligently for several months before you start searching for tablature.

When I started playing the guitar I was really gun-ho about playing songs, especially solos, right off the bat. Since I am fairly gifted musically I was able to get pretty competent with all different types of two-finger blues variations. Things were good for awhile but as I desired to play more and more complicated pieces with a distinctive sound I realized I couldn't because I was limited by my own technique...well actually lack thereof.

One site I will direct you to is [URL=http://www.harmonycentral.com]Harmony Central[/URL] . It is a pretty kick-***** music site and most people there will steer you in the right direction if you insist on learning without the aid of a teacher or a theory book.[/color]

[LizerisCnh]

I started playing guitar my freshman year of high school, say 6 years ago. Somewhere along the lines, I switched to bass, then lost the interest altogether because I was so busy with school and work. I just bought an Epiphone Les Paul Studio guitar and am looking forward to reclaiming my skill.

I'd recommend learning to play Final Fantasy ballads, if you're interested. They've got just the right amount of technicality and simplicity and are very rewarding to learn if you're a fan of the franchise. Other than that, I'd say to stock up on effect pedals. If you're under too much pressure from playing 'clean' guitar, perhaps you need some distortion to boost your creativity. Rock on.